The New Office or Metal Desk Makeover (part 2)

Just to prepare everyone, this is a before and after type post. And as with all the best such posts, the before is none to pretty. If is was pretty, why would I change it. But I can’t start with the before. It’s just too painful. So here is a sneak peek of the after of the new home office/side of the family room.

You might remember the prison issue, metal desk from my first Metal Desk Makeover post. This desk used to live in my parent’s basement, but I thought it would have looked nice in a prison warden’s office with overhead fluorescent lights.

Metal Desk Makeover – Before

See what I mean!

But I needed a desk. Particularly one with storage for all those random office-y things that can accumulate, and one big enough to accommodate my computer. See I’m not a dainty computer type. Unless you were totally focused on the desk, you might have noticed Herman, my new, super fast, tons of memory, ooh so pretty ‘puter. And until today, this is where Herman has been living.

Oh the shame!

Tangled wires and cords, no storage, random folding chair, sloppily hung wall art, piles of software, papers and office supplies. You see why I jumped at the chance to get a real desk. It just needed some TLC first. Thus the new paint job as seen before.

Metal Desk Makeover – Getting There

Well after it’s new paint job it sat in the garage for a few weeks because as “dainty” as it looks, it took four people to get it in the house and upstairs. My sweet hubby, sister Paula, her kind husband who has moved more than his fair share of my furniture, and myself. And I think the Renovation Whisperer jumped in there somewhere too. Beast is an understatement when it comes to this desk. When we were done I had to promise my sports addict we would never move again…ever!

Now my sweet Herman has a pretty desk to sit on, and I have drawers to hide all the papers, disks, binders and pens. Here it is one more time.

Metal Desk Makeover – Finally!

And instead of the metal folding chair, I snagged my newly reupholstered, good will chair I talked about here. I think the black matches Herman nicely.

Well Done April! Love the blue and the black, I think you need to repaint the metal filing cabinet to match your new look- so you had better get your movers back to take it downstairs for a paint job LOL!

April,
this desk is LOVELY!!! Did you spray it? It looks like it has such a smooth finish. I am in the midst of spraying and decoupaging old tin trays and having a heck of a time!
xo
lynn
p.s.
the chair is perfect!

Hey my name is Johanny. I’m getting ready to buy a tanker desk and am hoping to paint it but have never done anything like this. I really want it to look good so am trying to learn as much as possible about the process. If you have a sec could you e-mail me to discuss the process you used!
Thank you!

Johanny
Thanks for the compliment. Honestly it has been so long since I did this project that the details are a little fuzzy. I believe I gave it a good washing, then sanded the formica top to give it more of a tooth. Then I sprayed the whole thing with primer. When that was dry I sprayed it with 2-3 coats of the blue color I picked out. Last of all I used a clear spray coat to make it more durable. If I wanted to do it over again though, I would use a true polyurethane to finish the piece. I was in a hurry at the time, but my six kids have successfully chipped the finish in a few places. They’re really good at that.
Hope this helps.
April

You did such a great job. LOVE the aqua!!! Hoping you’ll visit me at Sew Chatty and link up to Made With Love Monday! The party will be open until Friday if you want to link up multiple projects. Wishing you a very blessed Christmas! http://sewchatty.blogspot.com

That’s a fabulous make over. When my kids were small we had metal military issue beds that had the drawers underneath. They were battleship gray and my sons would have been destroyed if I ever painted them. We also ended up with a desk to match and it stayed the same to. They are in their 40’s and still reminisce about their furniture.

Very nice! We actually have a similar desk. it’s painted in that exact beige! However, I think a different/brighter color like your blue would be better for ours. I’ll see if I can talk hubby into it. 😉

*Hi, I’d love to hear how this is holding up. Any scratches on it at all? I’ve got a bunch of metal furniture from moving offices a while back. I’d love to use it – but you’re right, it all looks like it’s from a prison. I didn’t think it would be possible to spray paint metal though. So I’d love to hear how it holds up. Thanks, and I love the color by the way!

Hi Hayley,
Thanks for asking about the desk. I’m sitting at it right now and I
see a few scratches but nothing major. I’m actually quite happy with
how it is holding up so far, especially since I have five young kids.
One of them has chipped off a few little flecks on the top of the desk
near the keyboard, but the top is a laminate. I can’t help but think
I should have sanded the top more. It was definitely an experiment,
but so far I’m still happy.
Thanks for stopping by.

I stumbled upon your page when i searching for ideas about my home office and I have to say that your desk is amazing. And I’m totally going to steal your idea! I never would have though to paint an old metal desk. And now I can’t picture anything else I want me in office. What kind of paint did you end up using? Did you put any kind of seal over the paint? Any advice would be great! Thanks so much!!

Imitation is the best sort of flattery. Thanks.
I am pretty sure I used Rust-oleum Painter’s Touch White Primer followed by Rust-oleum Painter’s Touch Ultra Cover 2X spray paint. Then finally I finished off with a clear coat of something. It may have just been another Painter’s Touch clear coat, or it may have been a polyurethane. I’ll have to see if I still have the can out in the garage. Whatever I used, I wish I had used something a little stronger. It is wearing well, but with five kids, I should have put on at least another coat or two.

That turned out beautiful. I love the blue. I just found a giant metal desk (even bigger than yours) at goodwill for $24.99 and I’ve been scouring blogland to figure out how to paint it. Thanks you so much for the help.

I have used Bar or boat deck finish it holds up better than polyurethine. Much harder finish. I have a large metal desk I am going to put underlayment on the entire desk hope it turns out as great as yours did.Thank You for sharing.Oh by the way I bought my metal desk for $5.00 at a grage sale So can afford to play a little with the finish.

Hi! This is gorgeous! I have the exact desk and im racking my brain as to the best way to paint it. Id like to redo it in a fun color as well. My biggest question is, did you use latex or oil based paint?